Finance

How we are funded

The IFS is non-profit and non-political and receives funding from a range of sources, including the Economic and Social Research Council, UK Government departments, foundations, the European Research Council, international organisations, companies and other non-profit organisations. Funding is received either for specific research projects or via our two ESRC research centres, the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy and the Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice. Research Councils award funding for academic research independently of government; funding is awarded on the basis of scientific excellence, through a process of peer-review. The IFS never accepts funding for a research project - or indeed funding of any kind - that relies on a specific result being found or that compromises our independence and neutrality. All of our own publications are available free of charge for the public to read.

In 2017 IFS received the highest ratings for transparency in information made public about funding, from Who Funds You? (rated A) and Transparify (rated 5 stars). More details about these ratings can be found on the Who Funds You? website.

The majority of IFS income goes directly to specific research projects. Below is a list showing income from individual funders for projects current in 2015. The first column shows income specifically for 2015; the second shows all income raised for current projects, many of which span several years.

The Institute also generates a small contribution to its overall costs from its members (1.4%) including corporate members (1%), publication of the Institute’s quarterly journal, Fiscal Studies (0.6%), and its events programme (1.3%).

Corporate members

We are grateful to all of our members for helping to support the work that we do. Please note that none of our publications necessarily reflect the views of any of the below members.